Many game studios are being dropped following a bit of an economic downturn in the United States and globally. Activision has to deal with being agile enough to survive the economic times like anyone else and has dropped a few games that had great potential.
Gamers continue to ask the question, “why?” when some of their highest potential games were dropped to the floor. Ghostbusters and Brütal Legend are a couple examples of games with eager fans already salivating prior to its launch. Some of these fans are a bit ticked off that Activision named them as dropped franchise opportunities.
People ask why a company holds one “mediocre” title while getting rid of other potentially awesome ones. Don’t forget, this is a business and a good studio/publisher is going to make good business decisions without emotional attachments – those that bring emotions into play may end up with a highly valued product (to them) with no additional potential and lower revenue. This isn’t to say developers cannot be passionate about their games and their industry, they just have to build games gamers will buy and continue to fall in love with release after release.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is one of these business savvy individuals who knows where investors will find profits for the future, and he also know how to manage employees, with the use of software like this sample pay stub for payments and more.
“[Those games] don’t have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises. … I think, generally, our strategy has been to focus… on the products that have those attributes and characteristics, the products that we know [that] if we release them today, we’ll be working on them 10 years from now.” (1up)
Ghostbusters is a great example of a title which could be well received and fun to play but probably wouldn’t be an exploitable franchise. The game, based on a popular movie, has limited potential for yearly releases and huge franchise success. Ghostbusters fans would probably disagree, but that’s when emotion comes into play. Think dollars and cents, not awesome fun gaming.
Oddly enough many of these business decisions from Activision, Electronic Arts and other big publishers arrive when the economy is in free fall and investors are eying your revenue potential. People make their most important and, usually, unfriendly business decisions when their company is at risk.
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It’s sad to think money comes first and entertainment value comes second but we’re not the ones trying to make a profitable living in the industry. Put yourself in Kotick’s shoes as he walks into a board meeting to discuss future plans, road maps and profitability – you’d do what you have to do to keep your job, right?
Sorry Paul, I just don’t do hate.
Jordan, your description of Rage reminds me of how I felt after finishing Doom 3. Not a bad game, but I wouldn’t pay 60 USD for it.
@Resident Evil 6 on-disc DLC unlocked by modders
Bwa ha ha ha ha :))
Way to go modders! As far as I am concerned, the contents id already free (if you bough the game).
Dan, interesting point there, it could be something to be unlocked.
@World of Warcraft cities laid waste by first level priest
What makes it funny is that Blizzard is now going after the hacker. Jeez, why not invest the time in finding other such bugs and patch those as well? Talk about the wrong way to spend time and energy.
@QOTW: None, unfortunately. I had very little time to play any game in the first half of the year, I doubt I’ll have more in the fall or winter. Heck, I still have Shadowrun to finish, Portal 2, the Penumbra games and so on.
I might pick up a game or two if there’s a sale on Steam – maybe Company of Heroes or Metro 2033, but again, no new game, and with very little chance of playing them these months.
@Cheating AI: Red Alert was also cheating.
And yes, Quake 3 bots were able to accurately figure out the velocity vector of the player in order to lead their rockets (cheating). True. But you could also change your direction after the rocket was shot. And in the mean time, you would have to place your own rockets close enough to frag them. That’s the challenge, beat a cheating computer.
Turns out the Resident Evil 6 DLC is free after all. The next DLC will probably unlock the rest of the copntent on the disc.
@Sony sues Kevin Butler actor for appearing in Wii commercial: In my opinion they are making a big deal over nothing. It’s not like someone was going to buy a PS3 but then decided to buy some tires because there was a chance they could win a Wii. I even read that his exclusivity contract expired a few days before the ad aired.
@QOTW: This fall I only plan to buy Assassin’s Creed III, so that I can save up some money for the Wii U. It is at the top of my list because I know for sure that I will enjoy it, especially now that it’s finally changed to another setting.
P.S. I would love to hear that Doctor Who podcast some time soon. If any of you haven’t seen it, here’s the brilliant unshot scene that would have been perfect in the last episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWU6XL9xI4k
@Sony and Kevin Butler
Never heard of the guy. Only seen him once during the E3. They didn’t market him outside US. Fully agree with DynamicJul. Much Ado about Nothing. Sony’s lawyers just want a thicker pay check this Christmas.
@Warcraftopocalyps
I wish I was there. That’s what I love about MMOs. Sometimes stuff like that happens. Before it died, Face of Mankind was like that every day. Something bonkers would happen all the time. To bad that Blizzard will probably find the guys, fine them $1 million and get them imprisoned in Guatanamo.
@AI cheating
I had far to many experiences with this. The eternal bane of shooters was making the AI super accurate. In RTS they would hammer you with endless waves of enemies. Takes out all the fun out of challenging yourself. Left4Dead is a primary example. On expert the AI flaunt all the rules in an attempt to rape you into dust. It’s frustrating but ridiculously satisfying if you succeed.
@Gameboy Micro
Here is the reason why it didn’t sell. The day I went out to buy a Micro I instead ended up buying a pre-owned DS with a game for less cash. And it could play GBA games as well. What was the point releasing a Micro after DS anyway?
o hai, i’m sorry, i could not post last podcast. i always post when i can :3
to begin my feedback i’d like to apologize to Shawn on last podcast’s giveaway on choosing the same game as him (half life). if i had seen that i’d have choosen crash bandicoot 3.
@jonah calling me drunk on 281st podcast
1st: i did not meant “‘real time’ reviews” as in real time real time, it was a way for me to say “more often reviews for games that get patched often”.
AND I ONLY GIVE FEEDBACK WHILE DRUNK SOMETIMES >=] (not now, not then)
@Resident Evil 6 on-disc DLC unlocked by modders:
i bet if were not for the Street fighter X tekken “agreement” that capcom made with the consumers after the on disk DLC was discovered, this would not be a free one.
@QOTW:
idk, i’m saving money to see if medal of honor: warfighter is worth of my hard drive space. and if dishonored is as good as it looks, i’ll buy it on the winter steam sale. what about CoD:BO2 you ask? nope.avi
@QOTW
Just bought the new Pokemon. But I don’t think they count as anything major these days. Getting my mits on Halo 4. That’s my target. Hope 343 industries don’t muck it up. Planning to import a Wii U. Straight from Japan. To play all those Japanese Wii titles I missed. And just try to imagine Assasins Creed 3 in Japanese.